baby steps

Meredith has started taking steps. Last week it was 2 or 3 at a time and now this week she can toddle across the whole room. I don't call her a walker yet though because she isn't quite proficient yet and the preferred method of transport is still crawling. I have a feeling it's coming soon though. I know this picture isn't terribly exciting but there she is doing the Frankenstein walk.

We had a fun weekend and I got lots and lots of cute pictures. She had fun in her crib. That seems to be the go to place when we need to contain her for short periods of time.

Then we went to the zoo and met up with Shannon & Renee (& company). We've been to the zoo many, many times this summer because we are members. Meredith is pretty much oblivious to the animals except when we are at the farm area. She goes nuts when she sees the goats. There are little goat food machines where you can put in quarters and get goat food. Then you stick your hands through the holes in the fence and the goats come up and eat out of your hands. She LOVES to pet the goats. She was jumping up and down, up and down. She had a blast.

Poor litle thing was all tuckered out after a couple hours.

On Sunday, we headed into downtown St. Paul for the farmers market. We got all sorts of goodies like potatoes, raspberries, corn, kettle corn, and a smoked chicken.

This is my first attempt at Photoshop. This picture was dark and full of shadows so I attempted to lighten it and play with the colors. Please don't laugh. I really need Photoshop for Dummies. But in my defense, it comes with absolutely no instructions whatsoever. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.

weekend summary

If you ever wonder how things go down in the Carlson household, get out the popcorn.

Saturday

We had a house showing scheduled at 11:00 a.m. so we took off and went to Toys R Us to shop for a birthday present for Meredith. Being in there is mind boggling to say the least. Really, is there a necessity for all those toys? It took us over an hour to pick out two things. It seems like a lot of the toys are so similar to one another and Meredith is a been there, done that kind of a kid. We also got her some jammies for the fall in 18 months size. They are gigantic!

As you can see, I picked out some boy dinosaur jammies! I had to do some convincing with her dad but this is her first official piece of boy clothes. To balance that out, we had to get a girly pair too.

We got home and I don't think the people even showed up for the showing. There was no realtor's card and the house showed no signs of intrusion. That's irritating to say the least.

Sunday

I decided that it was a good day to go to Goodwill. I will admit, I love to shop there. Today I came home with a like new looking J Crew cardigan, a like new looking argyle vest from The Limited, and a nice wrap around blouse (not quite new looking but nothing a good wash and iron can't fix) from The Limited all for $10.99. I was very excited to find out it was 50% off green tags today! When I left the house, I told Greg that I would be back soon. Well, 1.5 hours later, I proudly stumbled through the door with my new possessions and he was shocked to hear that I didn't even look through half the store. While I am talking thrift stores, I stalk Once Upon A Child. I've gotten some great toys and clothes there and but since I was at Goodwill so long, I skipped it today. On my way out of the Goodwill, some guy spilled his soda all over my foot and sandal as I was walking out the door. I didn't even get as much as an apology from the guy as he watched me take my dripping sandal off and walk barefoot to my car. I mean, I understand it was an accident but he could have AT LEAST APOLOGIZED! I gave him a really dirty look but decided to hold back my bitterness...yelling at some guy at the Goodwill really wouldn't have been too effective I decided.

When I got home, I washed my feet and sandals and we put Ems down for her nap. Then we attemped (for the third time) to fix our ceiling. For those that don't know, one of our POS bathtubs sprung a leak this winter and our ceiling was damaged. After Ems woke up from her nap, we took a quick trip to Target. When we got home, Ems and I went outside to play so Dad could clean up the mess with the ceiling. I for the life of me can't figure out why this kid will not crawl around in the nice soft grass, but instead wants to crawl on the sidewalk and scrape up her knees.

Once everything was cleaned and babyproofed again, we went in and started dinner. I made Ems a beautiful looking taco salad. I was so proud of this masterpiece and all she did is sit in her highchair and whine as if it were the grossest thing she had ever seen. Doesn't it look delicious?!?!?

And there you go folks.

our anniversary

Today is 8.10.08 which marks our 3 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe three years has already come and gone. Three years ago today (at approximately this exact moment in Hawaii time as I wright this), we were married on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Today was not nearly as exciting. We spent the day running errands, doing chores, and of course taking care of Ems. Her babysitters were were out of town spending the weekend partying it up (yeah, you know who you are) so babysitter #1 has agreed to come up next weekend so Greg and I can go out on an actual date!

Visions of Hawaii have been dancing in my head all day now. I've attached a few pictures to bring back some memories. What a fabulous vacation that was. I'm so glad so many people got the chance to be there! I can't believe how much our lives have changed since then.

This was actually the day before our wedding. I was spying on another wedding in the chapel here.

Getting ready.

This is some point during the ceremony.

We celebrated with cake and champagne after the ceremony.

Oh yummy, yummy, lilikoi cake. What I wouldn't give for another piece of that. And get your minds out of the gutter.

And finally, we took a very hot and sweaty boat ride around the resort.

cast your vote

Just for fun I thought I'd do a double post tonight. Since Em is almost one year old, I thought I'd compare pictures of all three of us. Who do you think she is looking like these days?

This is Dad at 12 months old.

This is Mom at about 15 months old I think.

And these last two are of Meredith taken today at 11 months old.

some favorite no good photos

I'm a horrible photographer. I really am. I've read books on how to take better pictures and I've read books on how to use my camera. I think I understand more than the average Joe out there but I still suck. But I'm sure even the best of photographers get pictures like these. Sometimes I get a picture that just makes me laugh. Here are some of my recent favorites.

I love how I managed to get the background perfectly focused but somehow the subject is blurry.

"Mom, are you sure you can't see down my dress?"

This needs no explanation.

And this one is just plain weird. Bad timing I guess. It's hard to take a good photo when the beast is whizzing by you at 5 mph.

weekly update

It's been a while since I've updated because I've been away in Baltimore this past week. We hold the largest event at the Baltimore Convention Center which draws firefighters from up and down the East coast.

This is my sixth visit to the city and I always seen to enjoy myself even though I can honestly say that I feel unsafe there. This is the only city I've visited (and I've visited a lot of cities) where I go out of my way to be extra cautious. I had a co-worker who was mugged right outside of his hotel a few years back. It's just a shame that there is so much crime out in that area.

I could tell a million stories from this week. I almost got ran over in a crosswalk (amongst about 5 other people) when the sign said walk. It was so bad that I marched over to the driver and lectured her. I guess one of the other pedestrians felt the same way because she marched over to the driver at the same time I did to lecture her as well.

I caught a game at Camden Yards. It sure will be nice when we get our stadium done here. I had pretty decent seats (considering our tickets were free) in the lower level. It was firefighter's night in honor of our event at the convention center.

I got schooled by the lady at the Northwest check-in kiosk. She gave me a lecture about waiting to put my bag on the scale until they called my name so it doesn't get mixed up with my kiosk neighbor's bag. I felt like saying "Lady, I travel all the freaking time...maybe you should have grabbed my bag tag first. I had my bag tag all printed out before my neighbor over here even stepped up to the kiosk." Instead I just stood there and nodded my head with a fake smile.

I sure missed Meredith this week. She is so much fun and has the cutest personality. She got a little roughed up this week. Here is a picture of her first black eye. It's kind of hard to see since it's almost gone in this picture but I thought it was worthy of a mention on the blog.

We also figured out what to do with our stairs. We just stuck a chunk of wood between the tension rod and the bannister. Thank goodness that's taken care of.

photoshop

I have officially ventured into the world of Photoshop. I figured since I have this fancy camera I need to be able to touch up my pictures. I just ordered Photoshop Elements 6 and I got such a fabulous deal that I have to brag about it.

Here is reason #846 why I like Amazon better than Best Buy (Jeff Bezos, you will like this):
I got it new on Amazon for $59.99 with no tax or shipping charges.
Best Buy has it for $99 + tax.

Here is reason # 847 why I like Amazon better than Best Buy:
There is a $20 rebate if you show proof of ownership of a previous version (I'm a cheater because we have other versions of it at work) but you are NOT eligible if you buy your new Photoshop Elements 6 at Best Buy amongst several other retail giants (okay, the rebate has nothing to do with Amazon but it's just anoter reason for me to hate on Best Buy).

Essentially, I'm getting it for $40. If I walked into Best Buy today, it would cost me over $100. How the heck does Best Buy stay in business? I guess there are just too many people who don't research prices before they buy.

cute or nerdy?

If anyone has noticed, Etsy is listed on this blog as one of my favorite websites. I will officially admit to the fact that I have an Etsy habit. I pink puffy heart Etsy! I convinced Greg it would be a great idea, yet again, to order some more things from Etsy. After much debate, I decided to get us matchy-matchy outfits. At first I thought it might be a little nerdy but now I think we're awfully cute. Some may roll their eyes at this but those people are just haters if they can't find something cute with this.

Is this not the cutest thing ever? And I love my top - and the best part is it's handmade. It's very well made and she makes the cutest clothes for adults and babies - her shop is called Boutique Mia. She also makes pants for little boys & girls. I actually got three compliments on my top from complete strangers. I never get random comments like that.

And of course, I LOVE the pillowcase dresses she makes. So cute!

Meredith will be able to wear this again next year as a little top.

We went to the farmers market and got some great produce, honey, and chocolate.

She had a great time. I love this picture of Em and her daddy.

This is also a cute picture of Em and Grandpa.

movin' on up

Meredith has really learned how to get around these days.

She just learned how to crawl up the stairs.

Here she is showing off.

So - I need a gate for the bottom of the stairs now. If you have suggestions, please comment. I really have no idea what to put there.

This is what I currently use.

first trip to hopsahi

We ventured out to the cabin last weekend for the first time this year. It turned out to be cloudy, windy, and cool so we didn't get any quality swimming in but we had fun. Meredith is the first of the 'next' generation to go out to the cabin.

It was exactly the same as I always remember it. Hairy spiders & a showerless bathroom. Okay, okay...there is that outside shower that we subject our neighbors to but that is not enough motivation for me to be brave enough to stay the night. We'll stick to day trips.

Just hanging out with Grandma.

Mmmmm...sand is yummy.

So is this rock.

Having a little fun with Mark.